Want to hear what Billie Holiday sounded like when she just started out? Ooo, are you in for a treat. There’s a bit Ms. Holiday’s tough history before the music starts. Have a listen.

There’s way more music and history in this archive, but this is a great place to start. You can download or stream any of these at the Niven Jazz Collection on the Internet Archive (you know, the good peeps responsible for The Wayback Machine).

Details about the David W. Niven Collection:

650 tapes · 1,000 hours · 1,378 WAV files · 637 GB · 691 JPEG scans of cassette liner cards & literature. Meticulously Collected, Compiled, and Narrated by David W. Niven, 1930-1993. Generously Donated by David W. Niven to the Foxborough High School Jazz Program, Stephen C. Massey, Director, 2010. Archived to CD-Quality Digital Audio by Kevin J. Powers, 2010-2011.